Shipping and/or storing container



April 25, 1961 w. P. GRAsTY SHIPPING AND/0R sIoRING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 20. 195? Inventor' william P.' Grasizg/ 1.53 W/W 1 @@WM jHorneg/ mmm April 25, 196] w. P. GRAsTY SHIPPING AND/OR STORING CONTAINER 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Sept. 20. 195? Invenl'or William P. Grasg/ f 4|lu .n l

States William P. Grasty, Zion, lil., assigner to Abbott Laboratories, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Iliinois Filed Sept. 2,0, 1957, Ser. No. 685,172

2 Claims. (Cl. 20G-46) This invention relates to a one sheet carton or container which is adapted to serve -as a shipping container for an empty plastic bag including the accessories used therewith, and subsequently to iilling the bag, the carton is also adapted to serve -as a storage container for the filled plastic bag and its accessories, and to the method of making the said carton.

Prior -to this invention, it was the usual practice to ship an empty plastic blood collection bag along with the necessary tubing and needles in a small flexible envelope, and when :the bag was subsequently filled, there was no container provided yfor the bag by which it could be readily handled while being kept in storage and under refrigeration. The lbag when iilled was clumsy to handle and very diflicult to keep in an upright position so as to prevent the red blood cells collecting in the neck of the bottle `and from mixing with the plasma. Another problem encountered under the old practice was that of keeping the accompanying serology tubes with the right blood bag. Many times the serology tubes would become separated from the proper blood bag and frequently the blood bag would have to be discarded without the blood being used.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a carton which will serve both yas a shipping container for an empty bag or container and the accessory used therewith and which is lalso adapted to serve as a storage and shipping container for a iilled bag or container and for the accessories used therewith.

It is also yan object of this invention to provide a carton which will hold a filled plastic blood bag in an upright position when such bag is stored therein.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a carton with suitable indentations which will accommodate and retain therewith one or more accessories used therewith, such as a serology tube.

The above and further objects and features of this invention will in part be apparent andV will in part be obvious from the following detailed description, and the drawing, in which:

Figure l is a plane view of a carton blank constructed in accordance with an embodiment of this invention.

Figure 2 is a perspective View showing ythe carton Iformed from the blank'illustrated in Figure 1 and showing the blood bottle and the serology tubes disposed in the accommodating receptacles formed in the carton.

Figure 3 is a side elevated view of the carton shown in Figure 2.4

Figure 4 is a detailed fragmentary perspective View of the carton of Figure 2 showing the top closure flap in open position prior to closing.

Figure 5 is a detailed fragmentary perspective View of the carton of Figure 2 showing the top closure flap of the carton in a closed tamper-proof position.

In Figure l, solid lines have been used to indicate lines of cut and double lines have been used to indicate score lines along which the sheet material is intended to be bent. The carton blank may be made of any appropriate ent sheet material, but material which is moisture proof is preferred.

As illustrated in Figure l, the carton or container blank includes a front wall panel 10, side wall panels 11 and 12 hinged along opposite side edges of the front wall panel and a rectangular rear wall panel 13 hinged to the longitudinal-ly extending lateral edge of side wall panel 11. A top closure panel 14 is hinged to the upper edge of the rear wall'panel 13, and a bottom closure panel 15 is hinged to the lower edge of the front panel 10.` The outer ends of the closure panels 14, 15 are scored along a transversely extending line spaced inwardly from the outer edges thereof forming a top end flap 16, and a bottom end flap 17, respectively. A reinforcing iap 18 is hinged to the outer lateral edge of back panel 13 by scored line 18'. Along the scoring which provides for this hinging are three openings 19', 20', and 21', which accommodate tongues 19, 2l), and 21, respectively, extending from the lateral edge of side wall panel 12, thereby holding the foregoing panels together in a self-interlocking manner when the carton is assembled as shown in Figure 2.

The top end flap 16 is adapted to tit entirely inside the upper edge of the panel 1n or alternatively may have only the outer portion thereof fitting inside the front wall panel 10, through an accommodating opening 22, in which instance, the panel 1d is tamper-proof. The outer portion of the bottom end ap 17 normally fits inside the rear wall panel 12%, through an accommodating opening 23 and is tamper-proof.

The above-mentioned end iiaps 16 and 17 function as a tamper-proof closure by having spaced inwardly a short distance from the outer ends thereof, transversely extending slits or out lines 24's and 25, respectively, and longitudinally extending scored lines 26, 27, respectively, spaced inwardly from the lateral edges of the liaps and extending longitudinally outward from the inner end of each of the lateral slits 24 and 25, respectively, forming locking sectors or tabs 24 and 25', respectively. The locking sectors 24' and 25', respectively, are adapted to being folded inwardly along lines 26, 27, respectively, prior to inserting the end ilaps through slits 22 and 23, respectively, whereby the box is permanently closed and tamper-proof without the use of .an adhesive.

The bottom extension flaps 23 and 28 are hinged to the lower edges of side panels 12 and 11, respectively and the top extension flaps 29 and 29' are hinged to the top edges of side panels 12 and i1, respectively. The bottom extension iiaps Z8 and 28 are generally rectangular in shape except for the interlocking cutouts formed by an arc-like cutting which starts at each of their outer edges and forms about a arc before terminating, and another cutting made at an acute angle from the side edges of said bottom flaps joining the first cutting ya short distance before the original cutting terminates. The cuttings are exactly the same and similarly disposed on both bottom flaps Z8, 28', and when the blank is folded into a carton, the bottom ilaps interengage forming a reinforcement platform or support for the bottom of the blood bag.

The top extension ilaps 29 and 29 are also generally rectangular in shape having two similarly formed cutouts disposed in each of the said aps, one of said cutouts 40, 40 having a V-shaped form extending downwardly a short distance from the upper edge 41 of the said flaps; the other of said cutouts 42, 4Z being generally rectangularly shaped and spaced a short distance inwardly from the tip of the V-shaped cutouts 4h, 40 and joined to said V-shaped cutout by a short slit line 43, 43', respectively, which runs from the tip of the V cutout to the middle of the nearest side' of the rectangularly shaped cutout 42, 42,', respectively. The said cutouts 4l), d are so positioned that when the blank is folded into a a single plane.

carton as shown `in the drawing, the cutouts 42, 42' coincide to form a passage which accommodates the neck of a blood bag or the like container and rmly engages the neck of the lood bag to hold it securely therebetween, as best shown in Figures 4 and 5 of the drawing.

The carton blank is also preferably provided with an opening 30, in the front panel 10, so as to make any markings on the blood bag observable without having to disassemble the carton. An opening 31 isalso provided in the rear panel 13, so as to allow observation of the contents of the filled bag without necessitating a dismantling of the carton.

The compartment forming indentation sections 32, 33, 32 and 33', respectively, are formed at the junction of panels 10, 12 and 10, 11, respectively; cutting two pair of generally parallel short, tranversely extending slits 50, S1, 52, 53 and 50', 51', 52', and 53' across score lines 60, 60', respectively, formed along the lateral edges of the panel and joining the ends of slits 50, 51 and 52, 53, respectively, with parallel score lines 54, 55 and 56, 57, respectively, and the ends of slits '50', 51' and 52', 53', respectively with score lines 54', 55 and 56', 57', respectively; thereby forming when the carton is folded into shape, receptacles for serology tubes, when the sections 32, 33, 32', and 33' are bent inwardly to form compartments for the serology tubes, bands S8 and 58 serve to hold the serology tubes in their respective compartments.

-When the carton is to be used as a shipping container for an empty blood bag and the necessary tubing and needles, the carton is assembled in the above-described manner except that flaps 16 and 17 are not inserted into their accommodating openings 22 and 23, respectively, but instead, end flap 16 is inserted through a passage formed by the front edges' of aps 29 and 29 when they are engaged and by the top edge of panel 10 the end llap 17 is likewise inserted through a passage formed by the back edges of flaps' 28 and 28 when they are engaged and by the bottom edge of panel 13. When the carton is used for this purpose, the longitudinal scorings 26 and 27 are not folded and all of flaps 16 and 17 remain on Neither are the parallel longitudinally scored lines of indentations 32, 32', 33 and 33 folded inward so as to form any type of indentation but instead are left unfolded so as to remain a part of their respective panels and to remain a part of their respective planes.

When the box is assembled and folded together as shown in Figures 2, 3, 4, and 5, panel 18 is positioned to the inside of panel 12, and is held securely in this position by the interlocking of tongues 19, 20 and 21, with the openings 19, 20 and^21, respectively. Extension aps 28 and 28 engage each other to form a support for the bag. The end flap 16 engages panel 1t) through an accommodating opening 22, as does the end flap 17 with panel 13 and opening 23. When these flaps are engaged in the above manner, they are self-locking and require no adhesive.

The carton blank before assembling is ilat and can be easily shipped or stored with a minimum of space. When assembled, the carton provides a storing container as well as a shipping container and also providing inden- 4 tations on the outside of the carton to accommodate the requisite serology tubes.

While the present invention has been described in connection with plastic blood bags, it should also be understood that the carton can also be used for the shipment and storage of plastic or glass containers for parenteral or other solutions which have to be held in a fixed position therein or which have to be stored for long periods under refrigeration.

The carton described and illustrated above can undergo structural modification without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Others may readily adapt the invention for use under various conditions of service, by employing one or more of the novel features disclosed or equivalents thereof. As at present advised with respect to the apparent scope of my invention, I desire to claim the following subject matter.

I claim:

1. A shipping container comprising a fluid-filled, ilexible bag having a cylindrical neck portion of relatively small diameter in proportion to said bag, a cap engaged on said neck portion, said cap having a diameter larger than said neck portion, and an outer cardboard carton having oppositely hinged overlapped supporting flaps forming the top of said carton, each of said supporting flaps having an opening therein in a position to be approximately in the center of the top of the carton, each of said openings being substantially rectangular and of a size to be received about the neck portion of the bag and smaller than the diameter of the cap, each of said supporting flaps having a narrow cut substantially smaller in width than the size of said neck portion, said cut extending from said opening to the far edge of the supporting flap opposite the hinged edge of the ap, said bag being positioned within said carton with the neck portion thereof positioned uprightly within the rectangular openings of the overlapped flaps with the weight of the lled bag supported by the pressure of the cap against the edges of the overlapped flaps adjacent to the rectangular openings in said aps.

2. A shipping container as described in claim 1, in which said supporting flaps have a generally V-shaped cutout at the far edge of the flap opposite the hinged edge of the flap, said V-shaped cutout having the enlarged end of the cut at said far edge and the narrow end centered on the narrow cut about midway between the far edge and the rectangular opening in the flap.

References Cited in the tile of this patent han... *ai 

